Forever
by plasticdoll2
Summary: Aaron Hotchner has finally found the love of his life. She was right in front of him the whole time. And now, he wants to propose to her. Total fluff. Emily/Hotch.


**I wrote this piece quite some time ago...edited it slightly and decided to post it. Hope you enjoy. Please review.**

 **Please note that in this universe, Hotch has never been married before and has no kids.**

Her smile was contagious.

Or perhaps, it wasn't. Maybe, he was just a lovesick man who was acting like a teenager who had just caught the first glimpse of his girlfriend in her prom dress.

The fact remained that the carefree smile on her face automatically put a huge grin on SSA Hotchner's face too. A man who rarely graced his facial features with one.

At that moment, he wanted to memorize every inch of her face. The cracks in the corner of her eyes whenever she laughed, their color, her dimples, the shape of her nose.

A sudden presence to his right broke him out of the trance she had unknowingly put him in. He pivoted on his stop with a tinge of red on his face and came face to face with David Rossi. The knowing look on his face deepened the blush. He inwardly groaned. She wasn't supposed to make him feel like a school boy again!

'So…' David began but Aaron cut off his drawl with a mumbled 'shut up.'

Rossi couldn't help but snort at that reaction.

'Would you kill me if I said that you look really cute right now?'

'Yes.' He growled in a low voice.

'Okay.' His mentor raised his hands in the universal way of surrender. 'But you do look really cute right now.'

Aaron should have known that Dave wasn't fazed by a lot of stuff, let alone his mentee when he was head over heels in love with a woman.

Aaron slid his hand in his pant pocket and his fingers brushed over the smooth surface of the small box that resided in there. It was amazing how a little thing like that had the power to change his whole life.

His heart fluttered in his chest in that moment as anticipation, anxiety and excitement fought for an outlet. A sudden spark of insecurity had him looking imploring at his best friend. 'I am making the right decision?' It was a statement posed as a question.

Rossi clapped a hand on his shoulder and stated wryly.

'Best damn decision of your life.'

He descended the stairs like a man on a mission.

Morgan leaned back in his chair upon seeing him and smirked at her.

'Your man is here.'

'You sound deliriously happy.' Her monotone made the rest of the team laugh.

'I am just really happy for you guys.' Morgan shrugged.

'So you have said a million times. Thanks...again.' She leaned in to kiss his cheek.

JJ got up to hug her. 'I'll see you soon.' She promised the blonde and waved goodbye to everyone else.

'I can't believe how good of an actor she is.' Reid exclaimed in a high pitched voice as he ran a hand through his messy hair.

'She is one of a kind.' JJ laughed.

'I can't wait for those little black haired babies.' Garcia cooed.

'Easy baby girl. He hasn't even popped the question yet.' Morgan said.

Aaron stepped into their home after her. A warm feeling settled in the pit of his stomach.

It was nice to share a home with someone.

'Aaron, I am going to take a quick shower. Order whatever you feel like for dinner.'

He smirked as he relished the thought of her having no idea about his plans. He was definitely going to catch her off guard.

The notion made him panic too. What if she wasn't ready for this commitment?

He shook his head and quickly called after her. 'Honey why don't you take a nice long bath and I'll prepare some actual meal for us.'

She never had been able to resist that boyish smile that had made her fall in love him.

'You sure? You guys just got back, you should relax.' Her voice was laced with concern.

'And we'll have another case soon enough.'

'Okay.' She gave in easily.

As it turned out, the panic outweighed excitement and a thousand what ifs ran through Aaron's mind as he prepared dinner.

He was a decent enough cook and prepared a decent enough meal. Grabbing a bottle of wine he had specifically chosen for the occasion upon Dave's advice, he inhaled deeply and bent to retrieve two glasses.

He lit some candles which Garcia had inconspicuously left in his office with a slight smile and waited with bated breath for her to come down.

His heart started palpitating when he heard her footsteps. He nervously rubbed his clammy palms against his jeans and walked towards the end of the stairs.

She had brushed her wet hair. He loved the smell of her usual shampoo and today, it was enough to slightly intoxicate him.

He grabbed her hand and walked her to the dinner table. She took in the scene for a moment and then slowly murmured a 'wow.'

Hotch pulled out a chair for her. She sat down and laughed. 'I definitely wasn't expecting this. Is there a special occasion which I forgot about?'

He reciprocated the laugh but didn't say anything.

They ate dinner and discussed her job. Hotch was able to control his nervousness to some extent by that time.

After they were done, she got up to clean the dishes but he grabbed her wrist lightly. A wave of electricity passed through her body.

'Don't worry. I'll take care of it.' He murmured in her ear and grabbed the wine and the glasses. She followed him into the living room where he was starting the fire.

She sat down on the blanket he had spread on the floor. Her eyes twinkled mischievously as she said. 'Well, this takes me right back to my teen years when we had my boyfriend's house all to ourselves.'

He got down next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. 'We can forget about all the ugliness of our jobs and pretend to be teenagers with no worries for one night.'

She turned her head to gaze into his eyes for a moment and said. 'I wouldn't want to spend this night with anyone else.'

'Exactly two years ago, I finally realized that I had feelings for you.' Aaron said. His wistful _confession_ coming out of nowhere.

'You never told me.' She settled her head in the crook of his neck.

'I told Dave. You know what his reaction was?'

'He must have said _about damn time_.' She laughed. 'I was waiting for you to make the first move and you made me wait for a _significant_ amount of time. But…' She turned to look at him with a quizzical expression on her face.

'I know what you are going to ask. It actually took me two months to get rid of all the doubts in my head and ask you out.' He shook his head.

'And the next thing you know, I am putting in for a transfer.' She whispered reminiscently. 'Can you believe 22 months have passed since our first date?'

'It was a weird first date to say the least.'

'Hey!' She nudged him in the side and protested playfully.

'Well, you _are_ right.' She suddenly conceded after a moment. 'You were my boss in the beginning, then we became great friends and on that day, we were in a restaurant trying to awkwardly deal with our feelings for each other. I was so afraid of losing you as a friend too if things didn't work out.'

'Emily?' Aaron's whisper was hesitant.

'Yeah?'

'I need to ask you something, I have been wanting to ask you for a while but I was worried that we might not even be on the same page but…'

'Hey…' Emily cut him off. She could count the number of times she had seen him rambling on her fingertips. 'You can ask me anything Aaron.'

'I…I don't know what your answer is going to be but I don't want to look back after a decade and regret that I didn't even try.' Aaron's sincerity was reflecting from his moist eyes.

'Aaron. I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you so you can ask me anything.' She decided to put him out of his misery and answered his unasked question.

'You…you knew all along.' Aaron shook his head and sputtered though he would deny the sputtering part the next day.

'Aaron Hotchner, _you_ made me believe in happy endings. I never really thought that marriage was for me and then I met you and everything fell in place. This sounds really clichéd but it's true.' She let out a laugh which half sounded like a sob. 'People say that they found their soul mate…I don't care if you are my soul mate or not. I just know that I would die if something happened to you. You are the only man I ever needed in my life.'

Hotch gently wiped up some of the tears from Emily's face.

'Emily Prentiss, I love you.'

'I love you too, Aaron Hotchner. Now, I am dying to see that ring.' She looked at him expectantly.

With a slight smirk on his face, Hotch pulled the ring out of his pocket and then got to his feet.

'Where are you going? Having any last minute jitters?' Emily's teasing voice reached his ears.

'Just doing it the right way.' He murmured.

He got down on one knee. Emily leaned forward and the moisture in her eyes made him sentimental too.

His hands trembled slightly while opening the small box and his voice broke while he was uttering the words that he had been meaning to say for a long time. 'Emily, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?'

'Yes. There is nothing that I want more.' She whispered lovingly.

 **FIN.**

 **Please review.**


End file.
